I just wanted to stop by and say: from the bottom of my heart - thank you, Tom Fulp.
Several years ago, I was just a kid. I remember wanting to play soccer so badly. Not because I loved soccer, because I didn't - but because I wanted to be SOMEONE. I wanted to be part of something. My mother, raising three kids alone, didn't have the ressources to sign me up for any sports, and I don't blame her. Even if she did sign me up, I honestly don't think, I would have gone. As a kid, I was shy and insecure and preferred to stay home rather than meet new people.
I remember stumbling into this site with my twin-brother. We were watching sprite movies (which were very popular at the time), and they eventually led us to Newgrounds. We were intrigued by the content, the creativity - and the community.
Before long, we had pirated our own copy of Flash 6 and started animating our very first sprite flicks. The feeling of submitting your very own content was indescribable. My first submission was blammed, but I didn't care.
We were hooked making short flash movies day and night, getting better every day. We started showing our content to friends and family and eventually the word began to spread. From nothing, we were suddenly something. Not soccer kids, not athletic kids - but entertainers.
Eventually, I became interested in programming. Within a month, I got sponsored. I started cooperating with tons of people, including my brother. We would pretend to be an actual game studie, sit and talk ideas and game design at the dinner table and then I would start coding and he would start drawing and animating.
Even though I don't make content any longer, and haven't for a while, the lessons I learned, the skills I acquired, the people I met - all because of Newgrounds - is part of who I am and follows me every single day.
Newgrounds got me into animation, programming, music, creativity, business, entertainment and tons of other fields. Newgrounds changed my life and has helped make me into the person I am today - and for that, I thank you.
(I apologize, that this is poorly written. English is not my first language)
TLDR; long semi-emotional story about how NG changed the life of OP
